The Intercept Briefing

Nikhil Pal Singh, NYU professor and author specializing in state power and race. He discusses how homeland empire reshapes security and brings conflict home. He reflects on spontaneous local resistance in places like Minneapolis. He talks about risks and strategies for protesting under repression and the need for broader cross-class coalitions.

Sanam Naraghi-Anderlini, peace strategist and founder of ICAN, warns against using human-rights rhetoric to justify bombing and outlines environmental and civilian risks. Afif Nessouli, Beirut-based reporter, describes mass displacement, destroyed neighborhoods, and Lebanese fears of occupation. The conversation focuses on regional decimation, escalation drivers, and the real costs of calling for ‘liberation’ by force.

Hooman Majd, Iranian-American writer giving concise context on Iran’s politics and society. Nick Turse, senior reporter detailing the scale and civilian cost of U.S.-Israel air campaigns. Sam Biddle, technology reporter unpacking how AI speeds targeting and raises risks. They discuss relentless airstrike tempo, Pentagon AI targeting systems, regional fallout, and market pressure on war choices.

Séamus Malekafzali, journalist reporting from Beirut and Paris, offers on-the-ground analysis of Iran, Lebanon, and regional dynamics. He discusses rapid escalation of Israel–U.S. strikes, targeting of civilians and institutions, Lebanon’s internal fractures, Gulf energy and market risks, and aims behind efforts to weaken or collapse states in the region.

They unpack the speech’s tone, length, and moments that read like white nationalist rhetoric. They react to jokes about kidnapping Venezuela’s leader and the audience applause for regime change. They contrast booming market claims with SNAP and Medicaid cuts. They debate military spending, anti-DEI and anti-trans messaging, and the choice of a moderate Democratic response.

Andrés Pertierra, historian on post‑1959 Cuban regime durability, offers on‑the‑ground views of Cuba’s economic and humanitarian collapse. Michael Bustamante, University of Miami chair in Cuban and Cuban American studies, links U.S. policy shifts to sanctions, remittances, and regional politics. They discuss the oil embargo, financial isolation, effects on private entrepreneurs, diaspora divisions, and wider regional fallout.

Reporters cut through media noise to tackle money's role in politics and how big-money influence reshaped democratic outcomes. They explore risks of authoritarianism and how right-wing forces exploit institutional weakness. Short, sharp takes on urgent political threats and power dynamics.

Spencer Kuvin, an attorney who has represented multiple Jeffrey Epstein survivors for nearly two decades, discusses DOJ failures. He covers sloppy redactions that exposed victims, how powerful figures appear protected, and why current leadership makes accountability unlikely. Short, urgent conversations about re-traumatization, prosecutorial cover-ups, and what survivors demand now.

Spencer Ackerman, Pulitzer Prize–winning national security reporter and author of Reign of Terror, explores how post‑9/11 law and institutions reshaped U.S. power. He traces ICE’s rise, the politicized use of “terrorist” rhetoric, militarization of policing, surveillance expansion, and what dismantling that infrastructure might require. Short, sharp takes on how counterterror frames moved from abroad to American streets.

Mary Moriarty, Hennepin County Attorney leading local probes into two killings and pushing back on federal obstruction. Jill Garvey, organizer of ICE Watch training who teaches safe documentation of enforcement. They discuss federal agents blocking state investigations, lack of transparency about officer identities, community evidence collection, and how organizing and training protect neighbors.